Bolt Testifies to the Effectiveness of PES/USPLabs

First off I want to thank PES/USPLabs for the opportunity to try out the Test Powder + Anabeta combo! Use Anabeta quite often but have never used DAA despite how many people love the combo, so should be interesting to see how this goes.

Background

Haven't ran an actual log in probably a couple years here on AM. Time constraints with school kept me very busy in the past, but after graduation and finally landing a full time job time became available with a regular schedule. I'll brief background for those who haven't followed a log of mine (pretty much everyone) or those who have forgotten, but most info will probably be spilled as the log goes on with questions, etc. Have been lifting for about 10 years now in some form or the other. Started with sports training and has been more bodybuilding oriented in the past, while currently working more with performance and health in mind. In general I just lift because I love it regardless of how the results are at times.

Lifting

Currently running 5/3/1 and have been for the last several months. Have my main lifts of the day printed off for the next couple months still (assuming I don't stall) and love this as it takes a lot of the over thinking I do out of the program. With the start of this log I will be shifting more towards a bulk/hypertrophy approach on my assistance work compared to the past several months. Will be flipping DL and Squat assistance work so I hit squats and DL twice a week and will be using the Boring But Big approach with these lifts. Mostly because I love doing these exercises. Upperbody days will consist of Myo-reps on various exercises for assistance with some form of non-linear progression. Will be holding back and only hitting targeted reps on the main lifts unless certain circumstances call for it. Conditioning will be hard Prowler work with possible hammer work, but probably won't do too much. Job keeps me on my feet so no need for tons of cardio in my past experiences.

Diet

Been following a IF like diet (most similar to Lean Gains) the past several months due to work schedule. Will maintain a similar approach over this log as it fits with my work schedule best right now (nearly impossible for very frequent meals), but I am not anal about hitting certain fasting lengths, breaking a fast too soon, etc. Go with the flow and how I feel. CHO will be high on workout days and pretty low on off days. Protein stays around 1.5g for me and fat stays at at least .5g per kg, but usually higher on off days. Aiming for 3200-3300 cals on workout days to start and usually just eat til a little over satisfied on off days (PRO + Fat mostly) usually around 2500 cals. Will adjust weekly depending on how things go.

Supplements

Well this is the main reason for this log and I will be keeping it rather simple with my usual products plus the addition of the Testify stack when it gets here.

Staples
Slin-sanev2: 2 caps daily
Gut Health: 1 cap daily
CL Oximega: 4 caps daily
Vit. C: 500mg 3 x daily
Vit. D: 5,000ius daily
ZMA: 3 caps before bed
Goals:
Have used AB before and loved it so I won't have too much to say about it other than commenting on its usual effects. Looking to see how DAA works for me in addition to the solid host of other ingredients in TP. Given my youth I don't expect crazy effects from a test booster, but am hoping it helps aid in strength increases as well as mood boost along with recovery from training and daily stresses. Any body comp changes will also be greatly appreciated. Hoping I get the Alpha feeling some get on this.

As far as workout goals, I hope to put 2-3lbs on this month (slow and steady for me given training history and trying to maintain some semblance of low body fat) and solid strength levels in the gym. While I won't be pushing my main lifts I will be looking for them to feel easier even as the weight increases.

Will start the log tomorrow officially as my next cycle of the 5/3/1 begins, so I hope TP and AB show up soon!

Sept. 10
Took a baseline measurement for weight and will take another when TP arrives and at end of the run.
Busy at work this morning so I had a shake for the first meal of the day (preworkout meal) that consisted of: 1 scoop RVC Protean + 1 scoop Vanilla Iso-100 + 6oz Coconut Milk + .5 scoop GlycoMyx. Was actually really tasty! Washed down 2 AB with this and continued on with my work day.

About two hours later it was lifting time. Mixed up 3 scoops Protocol + 1 scoop Ultima and got to it.

Training:
5/3/1 Deadlift Day

Rolled out on the foam roller first. My left IT band has the most insane knot in it the past week or so. May have to do something a little more aggressive if it doesn't die down, but it isn't anything that has been bothering my lifting yet.

Followed that up with some mobility work for the hips and several minutes of jump rope.

3 sets of warm-ups followed by 3 working sets of 5 on the deadlift. Went with double overhand grip and the weight felt pretty easy nothing too hard.

5 x 10 of high bar squats superset with ab-wheel rollout.

Conditioning for the day was 8 trips of 30yd sprints on the Prowler with 45s rest.

On a side note I don't have my workout journal in front of me so don't have the exact weights, but if that is something you all want I can make sure to bring the journal home or write the numbers down elsewhere and post them here as well.

Off day from training.
Busy day with random work that kept popping up. Made some spicy ground beef and black bean chili for the family today (and will eat the rest of it tomorrow).
Diet:~2400 Calories 250/100/100

Training:
Took some free time to roll out on the foam roller, stretch, and get some structural work in.

Two hours later mixed up 3 scoops Protocol + 1.5 scoop Ultima and headed to the gym.

Training:
5/3/1 Bench Press Day

Did some light foam rolling and hit some spots with a golf ball. IT band feels a ton better and not many knots in other places as well, in other words feeling great.

Did some shoulder mobility and warm up to get the blood flow going (shoulder problems in past mean I need a decent time getting a solid blood flow before starting my lift.

3 sets of warm-ups followed by 3 working sets of 5 on the BP. Bench is one of my weaker lifts (I hadn't even been doing Barbell work for a long time until I started 5/3/1 so it has been depressing lately).

Did myo-rep sets on several pretty much each body part.

Once again don't have my journal on hand so numbers evade me (I'll go back through and edit this when possible) but consisted of Overhead Press, Lat Pull Down, Triceps Extension, Barbell Curl, and Seated Chest Cable Flies. All done in what was aiming to be 15-20 reps plus myo reps of 4 with varying rest times.

No conditioning.

Planning on bringing the Ipad to the gym and getting some videos posted up in the coming weeks. If there is anything specific people would like to see then just let me know and I will see what I can do.

Off day from training.
These off days tend to be busy at work. Worked all morning and have a little bit of down time now to prepare food for tonight/tomorrow and then it is back off to work again this afternoon. Aiming for similar caloric intake as Tuesday and will edit once the day is over.

Training:
Some low intensity work, and hopefully foam rolling, stretching, and rotator cuff work later today.

On a side note I got a nice package in the mail after the recent PES sale. Added some AB to my current stash:

Sept. 14
Same shake as other workout days: 1 scoop XF Strawberry UP 2.0 + 1 scoop Strawberry Isoflex + 6oz Coconut Milk + .5 scoop GlycoMyx. Honestly addicted to the Strawberry Ultra Peptide...don't use shakes a lot but can't resist making this and I had one for a MRP yesterday as well (although a little different combo)!

Two hours later mixed up 3 scoops Protocol + 1.5 scoop Ultima and headed to the gym. Also had .5 scoop Ultima + .5 scoop LD Compete. The Compete was more to flavor the Ultima as I don't find it bad but just not the most tasty for sipping on. Compete fixed that issue.

Training:
5/3/1 Squat Day

Full foam rolling session was performed before a good warm up with the jump rope. No issues with anywhere at all for the foam roll. Felt great to have my IT band feeling solid.

6 trips of 40 yds with the Prowler with 45-60s rest. This demolished me today. The rest between deadlifts was really short and apparently hit me hard.

Would love some input on form in the videos below. Squat max estimate is real low because I wanted to try to work on form (low bar approach), but seems real hard to hold it low for me. Any input or tips? Also only going for prescribed reps on the last set was hard for this and DL this week...feel like I could have banged out 3-5 more easy. Maybe I should just start with a new max for the % but idk.

Diet:
Hoping to finish the day at roughly ~3200 Calories 250/370/80 (PRO/CHO/FAT)
Supplement Notes:
Anabeta is definitely kicking in. Vascularity is pretty high during the day and muscle fullness is great. Almost two weeks in and feeling awesome. Really think this stuff may be my favorite "extra" to add and may surpass ArA for myself. Still love my ArA tho and can't wait to get in on this 200ct awesomeness. /tangent

Hope the reps don't mind that I have been taking AB before the full Testify stack comes in, but I love staggering things and would have preferred to time it 2 weeks AB before adding TP so hopefully it gets here sometime next week. Should provide an easy way to gauge its effects if AB is running strong.

On another side note started some Cissus XT this week because of some inflammation issues and it has crushed them quickly! Great stuff and I don't know why I haven't used Cissus in so long.

Finally, the combo of Protocol + Ultima is amazing for a non-stim option. Focus and endurance appear to be awesome (loved both separate and together they are real nice). Also tastes pretty good to me!

Vids! Three work sets of squat and one of my DL sets. Camera positioning was hard for DL so the other sets aren't worth viewing.

Deadlift BBB set 3 (205 x 10):
Note the PES swag! and probably didn't need chalk but o well....probably gonna take this one down after a bit bc it has random gym members in who may not want to be online!

Good to hear that your vascularity is increasing already, keep up the good work.

Its based off a percentage of my max so the last set of 260 is supposed to be "hard". Too bad seems like my squatting strength is coming back real fast (I took some time off from squats) and I am supposed to be progressing slowly.

Get that TP here stat!

Originally Posted by bdcc

P.S. if that is 205 on the bar for your deadlift your plates are huge lol.

Bumper plates on the Oly Platform. Really gotta resist bouncing hard out the bottom with those.

Today's assistance was myo-reps on all upper body exercises. Pump was pretty good and felt recovery was great..flew through with pretty short rest on some of these. Again activation set taken to 9ish on the RPE and the (+) after is the total number of actual myo-reps achieved with either 4 or 5 rep sets and very short rest today (due to high rep work).
Inverted Row 20 reps + 16
Bench Press 135lbs 20 reps + 12
Triceps Extension 20lbs 24 reps + 15
DB Curl 20lbs 20 reps + 25
One Arm DB Upright Row 15lbs 23 + 25(right), 22 + 25(left)

Reps were estimates so give or take a couple as by the end of the workout I wasn't really using full thought process to count. Also don't have my notebook with me (ya ya keep saying I forget it but its easier to leave it at the gym than to forget it at home).

Took some vids so I could see how the myo-reps looked (not a huge background with this training style). If wanted I can post some up to show how they work and to show how diesel I am or not

Diet:
No idea how it is going to end. Decided to try a new burger place I hadn't been to and had an epic burger with guac., pico de gallo, jalepenos, jack cheese, and chipotle sauce. Had a side of sweet potato fries with marshmellow fluff Never thought of that combo before but it was epic! Popped two AB with this post workout meal and don't care what the cals were. Other meals for today were pretty high on PRO with decent CHO as well.
Supplement Notes:
Anabeta definitely is kicking in and the combo of that plus Ultima and Protocol has intra-workout recovery and endurance going strong. Can't weight to see how this goes as weights get heavier and TP gets here.

Ya at first I was like wth is this??? Then I tried it and was like "wow". Kind of like a sweet potato casserole you have at Thanksgiving I guess.

Also should note that was the only off thing about my diet pretty much all week, including the rest of the day. No idea how the macros were but I have been real exact all week and my sister is going out of town for the week so it was a family and lifting partner lunch extravaganza.

Hit the usual foam rolling treatment, some stretching for the hips, and a good jump rope warm up. Also did a little glute activation in between warm up sets.

Deadlift:
3 warm up sets
3 working sets of 3 with 305 the last set.

Was feeling a little off today. Strength was great and the weights felt easy, but stomach was upset and head was foggy.

Assistance work:

Squats:5 sets of 10 at 185lbs superset with 5 sets of 10 on Ab-wheel Rollouts

These sets were pretty rough. Went straight to the ab-wheel after the squats and only 60s rest between that and the next set of squats. Pump and pain level were pretty high but it is feeling easier than last week already. Boring stuff but big stuff.

Conditioning:
Hit the Prowler for 35 yards with 45s rest between sets for 6 sets. I feel by the time I get to this after the short rest on my BBB assistance work that I am already huffing a little bit and this just finishes me. Felt easier than Friday (idk why that was insanely rough) and had a massive pump going on. Since I am bulking I should probably quit the conditioning tho.

Diet:
No crazy burgers this day. Made some awesome Turkey Tacos tho. Forgot to snap a pic...crap. About to eat the leftovers in a minute so maybe I will pop a picture!
~3250 Calories 260/365/85

Supplement Notes:
Totally unrelated but probably will post a Protocol review soon. Used it for awhile now and absolutely love it. One of the few things I will give as a recommendation to others.

My TP should be here tomorrow. With its arrivial I will make my log a little bit more precise and break down the exact timing of it and each of my AB doses. Can't wait and it is almost time.

I may be slightly sick because I had some stomach irritation again today before and during my workout. Didn't cause any problems with my lift but it is real random and I have been tired the last several days despite great sleep. Probably my reaction to this awful sickness the kids are passing around here (hardly get sick myself and when I do it is usually just minor fatigue and mental fog). Will keep note on how this continues this week. Weight was up slightly on the scale as well since starting.

Did some shoulder warm ups and used a golf ball to hit some trigger points in my back before starting today.

Bench:
3 warm up sets
3 working sets of 3 with 205 the last set.

Assistance work:

Myo-rep assistance work today. Added weight/reps to everything I did today. Was supposed to stick in the 15-20 rep range for the "activation" set today, but on a couple exercises I went above that (despite increasing the weight this week as well ). Reps were up on everything and had a pretty good pump going on. Great workout overall. Hit Lat Pulls, Overhead Press, Barbell Curl, Triceps Extension, and Seated Cable Chest Flies.

Conditioning:
No conditioning today.

Diet:
No crazy burgers this day. Made some awesome Turkey Tacos tho. Forgot to snap a pic...crap. About to eat the leftovers in a minute so maybe I will pop a picture!
~3200 Calories 260/360/80

Supplement Notes:
Something was sitting on my doorstep when I got home from work today.

Now that it is here we can really kick this thing off. Details will be increased and I should be dropping some more input based on how I feel as things ramp up. First, initial review (couldn't resist having it with my last meal of today).

Test Powder Initial Review (Taste/Mixability):

Mixed up 2 scoops (measured on scale for full serving which took a little more than two scoops) in 8 oz of ice cold water. Mixability was pretty much perfect and I didn't notice any residue/flakes of any kind. Taste was decent (not bad at all just not the best I have had). Nothing amazing, but I typically don't like Fruit Punch flavors. With that said it is slightly sweet with no bitter or herb-like bite or aftertaste. Should not be a problem to drink, it just isn't on par with the last FP I have had recently...Alphamine.

Overall can't say anything about it other than I am excited to finally get started and that taste should not be a problem with this product.